One of the questions we get quite often here at GM Authority is along the lines of:
How do I tell which direction (or orientation) I’m driving?
Determining the orientation in which one is driving is quite simple in vehicles equipped with dedicated orientation readouts, which are usually located in the Driver Information Center (DIC).
NE directional readout located on bottom right of driver information center (DIC) in 2012 Buick Verano
The task gets slightly more challenging on vehicles equipped with GM’s latest Next-Gen Infotainment (NGI) systems such as Chevy-Holden MyLink, Cadillac CUE, and Buick-GMC-Opel-Vauxhall IntelliLink with navigation. Luckily, these systems have a small yet convenient way of showing the direction in which the vehicle is moving. Simply look at the center of the navigation “icon” in the top row, and you’ll see a small readout in its center that shows the direction.
NE directional readout located in the center of the navigation icon in 2014 Chevrolet Impala with Next-Gen Infotainment system
Here’s to hoping this is useful for those of us who can’t use the sun to tell which direction we’re moving in.
Comments
I’ve pretty much always looked out the windshield.
I use the oldest directional indicator in the Solar Sytem, our Sun!!
Not everyone is as gifted as you guys.
How do I tell which direction I’m driving? One of the questions you get quite often at GM authority. I bet another popular one is how do I read the owners manual? There are a lot of questions in the forum that could easily be answered if they would just read the owners manual.
what mylink system is in the bottom right? with the faces? is that like the japan version?
It’s the same NGI MyLink system, but with a skin (theme). You can set it in the settings.
Just a different theme for the mylink
Not trying to be too much of an a-h and do not know just where the driver is headed but in addtion to looking out the windshield (Tyger) and getting solar bearings (Raymondjramand) I use the following as a guide….
Interstate north-south routes have odd numbers, with numbers increasing from west to east.
Interstate east-west routes have even numbers, with numbers increasing from south to north.
Interstate highway routes have one- or two- digit numbers.
North-south interstates ending with a 5 and east-west interstates ending with a 0 are typically major cross-country routes.
A three-digit interstate always ends with the two-digit number of the main interstate it loops off from, except I-238.
Three-digit road numbers beginning with an even number are either beltways that go around a city or freeways that go through a city.
Three-digit road numbers beginning with an odd number branch off the main interstate.
U.S. highway north-south routes have odd numbers, with numbers increasing from east to west.
U.S. highway east-west routes have even numbers, with numbers increasing from north to south.
U.S. highway east-west routes ending in 0 tend to be cross-country routes.
Three-digit U.S. routes contain the two digits of their parents routes, but there is not an odd and even number system.
Also this worked when wearing an analog watch (another reason to own at least one)
1….Hold a watch in palm of your left hand with with 12 o’clock # facing left ((toward tip of thumb)
2….Move your arm so the hour hand points at the sun.
3….The spot halfway between the hour hand and the 12 is south.
4…If you’re in the southern hemisphere, (hopefully that aspect of where you are /where your going has been established !) you would point 12 o’clock at the sun but still split the difference between 12 and the hour hand for north. Also, if you practice daylight saving time, you should subtract one hour from the hour hand.